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Published on December 21, 2007

Everyone remembered a similar case two years ago, when the Justice Department implicated Thai politicians in a bribery scandal. That time, it involved the purchase of scanners for Suvarnabhumi Airport, and then-transport minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit came under a House no-confidence debate.

We also remembered that Suriya made a narrow escape. Although winning the confidence vote, suspicion lingers on and reverberates from time to time through investigations by the Assets Examination Committee (AEC).

It's not surprising why Suriya got off the hook. At that time, the Thaksin Shinawatra government was quite reluctant to ask for more information from the US government. Plus, the Justice Department statement did not name the politician in question, although some accomplices were named.

And back then, nobody looked at the money trail. So despite the apparent discrepancy of the scanner prices and the money that Airports of Thailand paid out, nobody was named as a culprit.

But in the case relating to the TAT official, although the name was not provided, "the governor" and "the governor's daughter" are terms that are often used. During the time of wire transfers from 2003-07, Juthamas Siriwan served as TAT governor.

Plus, the money trail is so clear.

There were the numbers of bank accounts owned by "the governor's daughter", and the information was meticulously detailed about when the accounts received deposits and how much each time. For example, on November 4, 2003, account No 01342-07849 was wired US$104,500 (Bt3.52 million) from Saso Entertainment. Now that we know who owns Saso Entertainment - the American couple, Gerald and Patricia Green - we also know who the recipient was simply by asking the bank.

This may or may not be part of the damages of Bt185 billion during the years of rule by former prime minister Thaksin, as calculated by the AEC.

But hopefully, this time the Thai government is serious about snaring the culprit.

I also hope all of the voters go to the polling booths on Sunday to cast their votes. One vote may not carry much weight, but many will. If you are as serious about corruption as you claim, then you must exercise whatever right you have to prevent it.

achara_d@nationgroup.com

The Nation